5. No Oscar? No Problem!
In 2008, The Dark Knight grossed $158.4 million in its opening weekend, which at the time was a record. It went on to gross $533.3 million domestically, as well as $469.7 million overseas, for a whopping final cume of $1,004,558,444 billion, which is still good for #4 in all-time gross domestically; #7 worldwide. So one of the highest grossing films of all-time should surely secure, at the very least, a nomination for Best Picture, no? I mean, the classic film Gone With The Wind (which is still the highest grossing film of all-time after adjusted for inflation) and Titanic, another gigantic financial success, were both not only nominated for Best Picture, but both WON Best Picture.
The Dark Knight was NOT nominated. Well, how about Best Screenplay? Someone wrote all of those memorable lines for The Joker and someone had to create that world of Gotham and incorporate all of those post-911 themes? It was not nominated. Ok well, surely it got Nolan a Best Director nomination? I mean, as great as Heath Ledger’s performance was, it’s the director’s job to pull out the performance consistently. He was not nominated. Weird. The only nomination (and win) was for Ledger’s timeless and mesmerizing performance as The Joker. I’d say that’s a travesty, don’t you think?
Aside from certain technical nominations for his films (cinematography, editing, etc.), Nolan has only been nominated for an Academy Award three times: Inception was nominated for Best Picture and Best original Screenplay at the 2011 ceremony and Memento also nabbed a Screenplay nomination at the 2002 ceremony. Noticeably absent from that list, aside from a win (Memento was voted one of the 101 greatest scripts by the WGA. Number 100 to be exact.) Is a Best Director nomination, as previously mentioned.
Yet, it is widely believed that the reason the Academy expanded its Best Picture category from 5 to 10 in 2009 is because of the commercial and critical success of The Dark Knight the year before. The success and brilliance of one of Nolan’s films was enough to make the sometimes rigid and always uptight Academy Of Motion Pictures And Sciences expand the Best Picture Category to give films that otherwise wouldn’t be nominated, a fighting chance.
Now, I am in no way saying that The Dark Knight was worthy of winning the Oscar that year for Best Picture (No Country For Old Man is as close to a masterpiece as you can get), but it at the very least deserved a nomination. But the Academy has always shied away from action and comedy films and have never even acknowledged a comic book film as worth of nominations, the fact that an action film about a comic book character was able make enough noise (no pun intended) to shake-up a category at the Academy Awards is a win in and of itself.
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22 Comments
Great article, agree with everything you’ve said
Thank you for taking the time to read my article by the way, I really appreciate it! Glad you share my affinity for Christopher Nolan!
The Dark Knight and No Country For Old Men weren’t a part of the same Academy Awards ceremony. Two different years.
Agreed. TDK was pitied against Slumdog Millionaire !!!
TDK should have won !!!
You’re right, Nick. My wires crossed when I saw No Country won in 2008 and forgot that TDK came out in Summer 2008. Yikes :-/ And I can’t be too angry that SLumdog Millionaire won Best Picture that year it’s an incredible film!
Thank you for taking the time to read my article by the way, I really appreciate you guys!
I see the Nolan lovefest continues. Look I like the guy as much as the next person and I am looking forward to his next movie but can we go at least a week without referencing Christopher Nolan?
The Searchers didn’t get a single nomination – no one attributes that to its greatness = failed article.
nice article. love nolan’s films
Thank you for taking the time to read my article by the way, I really appreciate it! Glad you share my affinity for Christopher Nolan!
You know most of history is fill with people in their days not getting the recognition by the Academies. It is best sometimes not to care what someone with a degree says about a movie or tv show. I only say this because a lot of them are surrounded and taught by people of similar mindset and structure. There are also time when to get your grades, you made have to give up your independent views and go with the opinion of the professor.
No Country for Old Men and The Dark Knight weren’t nominated in the same year but if they were they would have both been in competition with There Will be Blood which is the best film of the decade. Nolan is immensely underrated but Paul Thomas Anderson has got to be the best director in the world yet he continues to get snubbed just as Nolan does
You are right about No Country For Old Men and TDK coming out in seperate years. My wires crossed when I saw No Country won in 2008 and forgot that TDK came out in SUmmer 2008. Yikes :-/ However, I cannot agree more about Paul Thomas Anderson! As an aspiring filmmaker myself, I hope to one day be at least half as good as him. He is grossly underrated but will get his due. There Will Be Blood is a masterpiece, and I don’t throw that word around lightly! Thank you for taking the time out to read my article by the way, I really appreciate it!
i think are forgeting the spectacular The Dark Knight Rises in this list
Best article ever! Just the name Christopher Nolan makes me drool. The man is perfection.
Thank you for taking the time to read my article by the way, I really appreciate it! Glad you share my affinity for Christopher Nolan!
You forgot that he created a whole new type of fanboys.
Speaking of an early fan of Nolan’s, with Memento, Insomnia, and The Prestige being favourite films for years – I feel that since TDK Nolan is becoming a victim of his own grandeur.
I found Inception to come off as a a rather simplistic vanity project which could have been amazing but for the fortress charge. It was an easy way out of a complicated idea and he went with it and overall wasn’t that much innovation there cinematically, barring the zero-gravity turning set fight scene as you mentioned. TDKR is an incredibly amazing mess of logistical nightmares, driven by an inane script but as final say, he could have cleaned it up much better. I doubt he won any new fans with that one. It reminded me of Sam Raimi’s like Spider-Man 3 that comes off as a bit of a ‘have to do it to fulfill my contract’ feeling.
Unfortunately, Christopher Nolan is quickly becoming one of the old guard that gets stuck in filmmaking past. Film investors/studios aren’t looking for big budgets but big payouts and it’s those directors that can do much with little is what made Nolan great.
He needs to pull a Dave Chapelle and back off for awhile – he’s believing too much of his own press.
Danny Boyle is still Britain’s most amazing established director. He totally deserved the Oscar for Slumdog. I did enjoy your article though, well thought out. I just happen to disagree.
I cannot agree more about Danny Boyle deserving the Oscar for Slumdog! That was an incredible film. I am a huge fan of Danny Boyle, 28 Days Later is another one of my favorites. Thank you for taking the time out to read my article by the way, I really appreciate it!
Good article shows everything Nolan stands for he is a best director more than spielberg i would say….Nolan will define film making with every movie he directs.
Great article! Christopher Nolan is one of the finest directors in the world. I would argue, though, that Nolan is better than Spielberg in at least some areas if not all. Almost every director has made at least one stinker through the course of their careers but not Nolan.
Very nice article. I’m a giant Nolan fan as well, have given all his movies 10s.